AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D

Just when we thought we saw the last of AMD’s Ryzen 5000 Series processors, here comes another one, which is actually more interesting than most. The new-for-2023 AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D ($229.99) is only the second Ryzen 5000 Series processor to support AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology. Undoubtedly a cut-down version of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D is far more competitively priced than that chip ever was. However, with both performance and price pressure from even dated Intel and AMD products, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D is a difficult chip to recommend. AMD teamed up with Micro Center as its exclusive sales partner, which puts its best foot forward to make this chip a worthwhile solution. Even still, we cannot emphatically suggest you buy the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D over, say, last year's AMD Ryzen 7 5700X or the Intel Core i5-12600K of 2021.

Binned Chips With Extra Cache

AMD has only managed to ship a handful of products with its 3D V-Cache so far. The first of these was the Ryzen 7 5800X3D that launched in April of 2022, which, in many ways, served as a real-world test run for the 3D V-Cache technology. Details about AMD’s newer Ryzen 7000 Series processors were already circulating at that time, with the expected release set for the fall season of 2022. This came to pass, and not long after we got a Ryzen 7000 Series processor with 3D V-Cache to play with at the beginning of this year in the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D.

With newer processors already on the market, I didn’t expect to see AMD ship any more Ryzen 5000 Series processors with 3D V-Cache. Regardless, it seems that AMD decided it was worthwhile to ship one more, even though it’s a relatively limited release. At the same time, though, I find sound logic behind AMD’s decision to release the new Ryzen 5 5600X3D now.

Creating microchips is an imperfect process. You always get some partially defective parts that can’t quite operate as expected, and this undoubtedly happened when AMD was producing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, too. These imperfect chips may not quite have been fast enough to pass for Ryzen 7 5800X3D processors, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t functional enough to be marketed as something else, like the Ryzen 5 5600X3D.

Architecturally, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D is identical to the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Both use the "Zen 3" microarchitecture, like all other Ryzen 5000 Series processors, and they both have a huge slab of 64MB of cache stacked on top of them to hopefully boost performance. The biggest difference between the two is that the Ryzen 5 5600X3D has just six CPU cores, while the Ryzen 7 5800X3D has eight.

The two cores missing on the Ryzen 5 5600X3D are still physically present on the processor, but they have been disabled. This could be because they are entirely dysfunctional, but more likely the two disabled cores simply aren’t able to operate fast enough to keep pace with the other cores. Permanently disabling them enables the processor to run without issue, and it enables AMD to take a processor that would otherwise be headed to the recycling bin and turn it into a marketable product.

Various factors suggest that you won't find an enormous supply of Ryzen 5 5600X3D processors, though. That AMD didn’t do this sooner is likely because it wasn’t sure until recently that it had enough stock available to make creating this product worthwhile. That the Ryzen 7 5800X3D itself is nearing the end of its life also suggests there won’t be much more of them.

This is likely a major factor as to why these chips are only available through Micro Center, buoyed by a bundle deal that includes an Asus B550-Plus TUF Gaming motherboard and 16GB of G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 RAM for $329. Though I'm sure AMD has plenty of stock for Micro Center, that’s a far cry from the global multi-retailer launches we see with most processors.

Test Setup

The processors included in the charts below were tested using one of three different platforms depending on whether the chip in question was an Intel processor, an AMD AM4 processor, or an AMD AM5 processor. Using the same motherboard for all chips obviously wasn’t possible due to compatibility issues, but the rest of the hardware used for testing was standardized.

All processors were cooled by a Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL240 Flux 240mm water cooler with a SilverStone DA850 850W power supply used to power each system. Each system is also equipped with a 1TB PCI Express 4.0 SSD with Windows 11 Pro and all the latest Windows updates installed. I equipped each system with two 16GB sticks of RAM, as well, for a total of 32GB, but the type of RAM and speed varied from each system.

The AM5 and Intel LGA 1700 systems that support DDR5 used G.Skill memory clocked at their max officially supported memory speed. This varies by the processor generation and platform. For AMD's new Ryzen 7000-series processors on the AM5 platform, the max official speed is 5,200MHz. Intel has had DDR5 memory for two generations of processors now, both of which support different speeds.

Intel's 12th Gen "Alder Lake" processors were the first consumer processors to support DDR5, and as such they only have official support for the JEDEC DDR5 standard, which is set at 4,800MHz. The newer Intel 13th Gen "Raptor Lake" processors feature an improved memory controller, and they carry official support for DDR5 memory at speeds of up to 5,600MHz, which is what I have used for all the Raptor Lake processors I've tested.

The AM4 system only supports DDR4 and instead uses Corsair memory clocked at 3,200MHz.

AMD's Ryzen 5 5600X3D is compatible only with its last-generation AM4 platform. The cards were already stacked against the Ryzen 5 5600X3D from the start, as the newer Ryzen 7000 Series processors have better performance per clock and can run at higher clock speeds, but the platform differences are also a major disadvantage for the Ryzen 5 5600X3D. The newer AM5 platform supports PCI Express 5.0 and DDR5 memory. All of AMD’s Ryzen 7000 Series processors also have built-in integrated graphics processors (IGP) that give them an added feature lacking in the Ryzen 5 5600X3D’s repertoire.

Though I could have included more Ryzen 5000 Series processors in this comparison, I opted to mostly compare with more current processors that will actively compete with the Ryzen 5 5600X3D on the open market. This includes the Ryzen 5 7600 and the Intel Core i5-12600K, both of which have similar prices. I did include the Ryzen 7 5700X, which uses the same platform as the Ryzen 5 5600X3D and has an even lower street price.

Processor Tests: A Depressing Display

We start off by looking at test results from AIDA64’s memory and bandwidth benchmark. Bandwidth is critically important to the smooth operation of any processor and it can greatly alter impact performance. The numbers found here need to be considered carefully, as different processors also react differently to changes in bandwidth.

The numbers from the Ryzen 5 5600X3D in this test weren't impressive. For some reason, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D wrote data to the RAM at a significantly slower speed than other processors tested. The only one that was similar in this regard was the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which makes sense since these processors utilized the same core. The memory read performance was also a bit lacking and lagged behind the Ryzen 5 5800X3D and the Ryzen 7 5700X, even though both utilize the same DDR4 memory at the same speed. All of the other processors were significantly faster here because they use DDR5 memory.

Bandwidth among the L1, L2 and L3 caches is independent of the RAM speed and showed more mixed results. Clock speed has a significant impact on cache performance, and newer processors tend to feature improved cache systems, which is why again the Ryzen 5 5600X3D was one of the slower options in this area. Things won't look up much for the Ryzen 5 5600X3D when we look at performance tests, either.

In Cinebench R23, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D was the slowest processor in our test result charts. The Ryzen 7 5700X and the Ryzen 5 7600 were both significantly faster both in single-threaded and multi-threaded tests. And this didn’t change in any of the other tests we ran. Regardless of the benchmark, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D was the slowest processor tested.

Now this may seem unfair at first glance, but pricing is key and it’s essential to remember that the Ryzen 7 5700X, the Ryzen 5 7600, and the Intel Core i5-12600K are all available for around the same price as the Ryzen 5 5600X3D or less.

Gaming Tests: This Chip's Best Hope for Success

The added 3D V-Cache is likely to help performance in just a limited number of scenarios. Only tests that respond strongly to a large amount of cache will benefit, and gaming tests tend to be some of the most responsive to changes in cache.

In these tests, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D managed a few exceedingly small wins. In 3DMark Time Spy, the processor was once again the slowest in the charts, but in F1 22 it managed to beat out several other chips with slightly better performance at 1080p. It wasn’t the fastest option in the list, but the Ryzen 5 5600X3D did beat the Ryzen 7 5700X for a change, as well as the Ryzen 5 7800X3D and several others. This boost was present at 2K and 4K resolutions as well.

The Ryzen 5 5600X3D also performed slightly better than the Ryzen 7 5700X in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, Total War: Three Kingdoms, and Tomb Raider, but it fell behind in Bioshock: Infinite. Performance against other processors was quite mixed and varied by the game, with the Ryzen 5 5600X3D’s worst showing overall in the Bioshock game. In most games, chips like the Ryzen 5 7600 and the Core i5-12600K were highly competitive with the Ryzen 5 5600X3D, with all three trading places between games.

Power and Thermals

Power consumption is tested by measuring the full power draw of the test system using a Kill-A-Watt wall meter. Due to the differences in motherboard, these numbers need to be taken with a pinch of salt except when comparing chips on the same platform.

The Ryzen 5 5600X3D overall didn’t use noticeably less power than other AMD processors. The Ryzen 5 7600 consumed just a few watts more in our Cinebench test and a few watts less in the Adobe Premiere test. This AMD's power consumption was notably a lot lower than the competing Intel chips, though.

As for thermals, the Ryzen 5 5600X3D remained relatively cool during our tests, peaking at 78 degrees C. This is a hotter operating temp than a few competing chips, like the Core i5-12600K and the Ryzen 7 7700, but it was lower than the newer Core i5-13600K and Ryzen 5 7600X.

Verdict: A Processor Out of Time

AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X3D is an interesting specimen that shows signs that it could have potentially been a competitive gaming solution once upon a time. Had it launched a few years ago, it may have been an attractive alternative to the Intel Core i5-12600K or AMD’s own Ryzen 5 5600X.

Launching in 2023, however, means that the Ryzen 5 5600X3D is up against far more aggressively priced competition. The Ryzen 7 5700X and Core i5-12600K both launched with higher MSRP prices, but they are available now for $199 and $179, respectively, at the time of writing. That means these chips both cost less than the Ryzen 5 5600X3D that, as a reminder, has an MSRP of $229. You also have the Ryzen 5 7600 to consider, which has the same suggested price.

These three processors beat the Ryzen 5 5600X3D in almost every test. The Ryzen 7 5700X didn’t perform quite as well in games as the Ryzen 5 5600X3D, but the Core i5-12600K and Ryzen 5 7600 were both highly competitive against the Ryzen 5 5600X3D in games and ran circles around it in processor tests.

In short, you'll easily find far better processors for the price than the Ryzen 5 5600X3D. The asking price also makes it less than appetizing as an upgrade option for an existing AM4-based system. Sure, it might get a slight edge in games over the Ryzen 7 5700X, but performance in every other task with the Ryzen 5 5600X3D is significantly worse. Unless you only use your PC for gaming, the Ryzen 7 5700X is a more tantalizing option and, unless you run on something as slow as one of AMD’s AM4 Athlon chips or a Ryzen 3, the cost still feels prohibitive compared with the amount of performance you would expect to see from upgrading. You’d be far better off instead to save that money and put it toward a newer system.

Micro Center is trying to make the Ryzen 5 5600X3D a more appealing option by bundling it with an Asus B550-Plus TUF Gaming motherboard and 16GB of G.Skill Ripjaws V DDR4 RAM for $329, which does help somewhat. This makes the entry cost for buying the parts you need for a PC relatively low, but we again feel that waiting and buying into a newer platform would be the better option in the long run.